Driftwood Conversations

Omar Columbus: Transforming Service Into Story
In this episode of Rites of Passage: Stories of Service, host Dawn Davis speaks with Omar Columbus, a twelve-year Air Force veteran, artist, photographer, poet, performer, and curator.
Growing up in a small town in North Carolina, Omar joined the Air Force in search of opportunity and purpose. His military career eventually led him to become an intelligence analyst responsible for briefing fighter pilots before combat missions during the Iraq War.
Today, Omar channels those experiences into creative work that explores identity, memory, service, and healing.
In this conversation, he reflects on:
Growing up in North Carolina and joining the Air Force
Serving during the opening days of the Iraq War
The emotional impact of preparing for war and leaving family behind
The role faith and gospel music played during deployment
Transitioning from military life to civilian life
How poetry and storytelling have become tools for healing
Why veterans need spaces to share their stories
The importance of preserving diverse veteran experiences
Through his art, workshops, and community work, Omar reminds us that storytelling is not simply about remembering the past—it is about creating connection and building understanding.
Rites of Passage: Stories of Service is a five-part series presented by MIL-Tree Veteran Project and made possible through support from the California Arts Council Community Impact Grant and generous community donors.
To learn more, visit https://www.mil-tree.org/

The Stories We Carry | Brenda Littleton
What happens when we begin to reclaim the parts of ourselves we've left behind?
In this episode of Driftwood Conversations, I sit down with writer, artist, educator, and depth psychology practitioner Brenda Littleton for a conversation that moves through story, creativity, healing, and personal transformation.
Brenda shares her journey from environmental activism on Vancouver Island to academia, Jungian psychology, and her current work helping artists, writers, therapists, and other creatives navigate periods of change and reinvention.
Together, we explore personal literacy, narrative therapy, active imagination, the unconscious mind, trauma, creativity, and the stories that shape who we become.
We also talk about environmental stewardship, intuition, pain as a teacher, and Brenda's belief that we don't choose the work—we listen for the work that is choosing us.
This isn't a conversation that moves in a straight line. It's an invitation to become curious about your own story and the pieces of yourself that may be waiting to be reclaimed.
There is one phrase from the interview that I think could become the anchor for the entire episode:
"You do not choose the work. The work chooses you."
For more information on Brenda, go to: https://www.brendalittleton.com/

In the second episode of Rites of Passage: Stories of Service, host Dawn Davis speaks with Renee "RA" Pickup, a Marine Corps veteran, writer, editor, artist, publisher, and longtime Mil-Tree facilitator. Their conversation explores military service, creativity, storytelling, and the ways people find meaning and connection through sharing their experiences. RA reflects on her decision to join the Marine Corps during the early years of the Iraq War, her experiences as a woman in the military, life as a military spouse during deployment, and the role writing and creative expression have played throughout her life. Together, they discuss the transformative power of storytelling and how programs like Mil-Tree's Rites of Passage create opportunities for veterans and civilians to build understanding, resilience, and community through the creative process.
Rites of Passage: Stories of Service is a five-part podcast series produced by Mil-Tree Veteran Project with support from the California Arts Council.
Rites of Passage: Stories of Service was made possible by a grant from
, supporting community storytelling, dialogue, and creative engagement.

Rites of Passage: Stories of Service — Mary Jean "MJ" Puckett
Mil-Tree Series
In this episode of Rites of Passage: Stories of Service, Dawn Davis speaks with Mary Jean "MJ" Puckett, a nurse, military spouse, and mother of a Marine whose life has been shaped by decades of service to others.
MJ reflects on her career in emergency medicine, public health, and child protective services, sharing stories that reveal both the challenges and rewards of caring for people during their most vulnerable moments. She also speaks about life as part of a military family, the emotional realities of deployment, and how participating in Mil-Tree's Rites of Passage program helped her explore memory, caregiving, and personal storytelling.
 
Through humor, compassion, and honesty, MJ offers a powerful reminder that service takes many forms and that storytelling can help us better understand ourselves and one another.
 

Writer, regenerative mentor, and Luna Arcana co-founder Rohini Walker joins Hilary Sloane for a thoughtful conversation about identity, creativity, healing, and the Mojave Desert.
Born in India and raised in England, Rohini shares how immigration, cultural displacement, and inherited trauma shaped her journey toward the work she does today. Together, Hilary and Rohini explore somatic awareness, decolonial perspectives, creativity as a healing practice, and the ways the desert landscape mirrors our own inner transformations.
 The conversation touches on stewardship, belonging, ecology, embodiment, and what it means to live in relationship with both the land and ourselves. It is an exploration of how personal healing and collective healing may be more connected than we realize.
 
 

Fashion designer and artist Anja Broenink joins Hilary Sloane for an intimate conversation about creativity, reinvention, illness, aging, and the courage to keep evolving. Born and raised in the Netherlands, Anja began her career as a nurse, studied fashion design, and eventually built her clothing line, Anja SF, in San Francisco during the dot-com boom. Today she lives in Joshua Tree, where she balances painting, design, and a quieter, more intentional life. Together, they discuss fashion in the 1980s, Japanese design influences, cancer recovery, spirituality, creativity after COVID, and the emotional inspiration behind Anja’s colorful “Sadie” paintings. A thoughtful conversation about resilience, artistry, and learning to make each day meaningful.

In this episode of Driftwood Conversations, I speak with therapist, writer, and longtime spiritual explorer Catherine Auman about relationships, emotional growth, friendship, awakening, and the long arc of becoming ourselves. Catherine shares stories from her life, including her early feminist performance work in Los Angeles, her years of therapeutic practice, and the deeper understanding she gained through both struggle and love. What stayed with me most was her honesty about how growth continues throughout life and her belief that friendship, respect, and presence are at the center of meaningful connection. You can learn more about Catherine and her work at CatherineAuman.com, and her books are available through Amazon.

 
In this episode of Driftwood Conversations, I sit down with Sandra Mendelson—animal communicator, channel, and, as it turns out, my second cousin. Though we grew up aware of each other, life took us in different directions, and it wasn’t until recently that we reconnected and discovered a shared sensitivity to the unseen.
Sandra came into her abilities later in life, learning to trust the messages she receives from animals and the energetic field around them. What unfolds in this conversation is not just a discussion about animal communication, but a deeper exploration of intuition, healing, and the ways we begin to listen differently—both to the world around us and to ourselves.
We talk about awakening, about doubt and trust, and about the quiet intelligence animals may hold as mirrors for human experience. This is not a linear conversation. It moves in moments, in recognition, in openings that invite reflection rather than conclusions.
It is also, for me, a meaningful reunion, one that reminds me how connection can reappear in unexpected ways, carrying something both familiar and entirely new.
To learn more about Sandra, go to: SandraMendelson.com

n this episode of Driftwood Conversations, I speak with Olga Naiman, an interior designer, author, and teacher whose work moves far beyond aesthetics into what she calls spatial alchemy. Rather than focusing on decoration, Olga explores the emotional and psychological imprints we carry into our homes. She asks questions about safety, identity, memory, and what we are ready to release. As a refugee from the former Soviet Union, her relationship to home has been shaped by instability, loss, and the ongoing search for grounding. That lived experience informs a practice centered on creating spaces that support healing and transformation. This conversation moves through trauma, the body, color, and the quiet ways we begin to reshape our inner and outer worlds. At its core is a deeper inquiry: what does it mean to live in a space that truly reflects who we are becoming?

In this episode of Driftwood Conversations, I sit down with Wayne Kastning, an artist, designer, and teacher whose life journey spans from a remote farm in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas to the creative worlds of New York and Los Angeles. Raised without electricity or running water until his teenage years, Wayne grew up surrounded by storytelling, craftsmanship, and a deep connection to making things by hand.
Our conversation explores what it means to leave home, to trust your instincts, and to keep saying yes to the life that calls you forward. Wayne speaks candidly about identity, curiosity, and the courage it takes to become yourself. This is a story about transformation, resilience, and the quiet determination to follow a creative path, even when it feels uncertain.